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CHICAGO – Frosty baseball games have long been a fixture at Wrigley Field, where a stiff wind off Lake Michigan can chill fans, players and managers alike.

Now the Friendly Confines is going on ice. For one day.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings and the Blackhawks are taking hockey back outdoors when they meet New Year’s Day 2009 in the home park of the Cubs.

It will be the NHL’s second Winter Classic. Last season in Buffalo, the Penguins beat the Sabres 2-1 before a crowd of 71,217. Snow fell during the game and the Pens won on Sidney Crosby’s goal in a shootout.

It will mark the third regular-season outdoor game in NHL history. Edmonton hosted the Canadiens on Nov. 22, 2003.

The game, beginning at noon Central Time, will be televised nationally on NBC.

The matchup will be the 701st meeting between the Red Wings and Blackhawks – no NHL opponents have played more regular-season games against one another than these two fierce rivals. Red Wings fans often make the trip to Chicago when their team faces the Blackhawks.

“The NHL is delighted to bring its most historic rivalry to one of the most historic venues in sports,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.

“We’ve been a candidate to play in this for a long time and everybody in our organization is excited about being a part of what is becoming an annual outdoor classic,” Red Wings GM Ken Holland said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to promote our game, our league and our team and have a one-in-a-lifetime experience at the same time.”

Wrigley Field is the second-oldest baseball park in the major leagues behind Boston’s Fenway Park. Wrigley opened in 1914 and the Cubs played their first game there two years later.

The Bears once played at Wrigley Field. And the neighborhood park has hosted other events, including two Sting concerts during the All-Star break of 2007 that resulted in patches of the outfield grass being roughed up.

Cubs officials weren’t immediately available for comment yesterday during the major league All-Star break.

Blackhawks president John McDonough is a former president of the Cubs, where he was also a longtime marketing executive.

The Jan. 1 game could also be competing for viewers with college football bowl games, a New Year’s Day tradition.

Last year’s Winter Classic earned a 2.6 overnight rating and a 5 share, the best overnight NHL regular-season rating in more than a decade. -AP